Epidemic
by ZombieWriterZZZ
Summary: The Zombie Apocalypse in 2022- Follow Jonah as he survives in the new world...


Tony R.C. Ster

Chapter One

I noticed the outbreak of the virus two years ago today, on May 22nd, 2020. At first it was unnoticeable, like any other disease out there, but this one did not die out. It spread faster than any other virus, it took effect in the human body immediately, shutting down the brain and organisms until the host was dead, and the disease took control of the mind.

Once it was noticed on a global scale, it was too late. Seventy-five percent of the population was turned in less than two weeks. Government forces came in with powerful weapons, but there were too many of the diseased, and the government forces were turned eventually themselves.

Once they were gone, humanity gave up hope. Whoever was left ended up going insane and committing suicide, or just went insane and ran around like lunatics. Those who kept their sanity and ability to reason went into hiding, built shelters and communities, saved those they could.

Less than two months into the spread of the virus our world was plunged into an apocalyptic state. It was an epidemic. There was no cure, no "patient zero", nothing that could possibly help the world in any way, and those of us who were left knew it. We knew that this was life now, we knew that this is where we would spend the rest of our years, and we accepted this truth. After all, we may not last much longer anyway.

I was only fourteen at the time of the great spread. I went to school, helped my sister, and my parents for that matter. And then it all ended overnight. My life was flushed down a drain on the last day of school.

I woke up to hear screams outside, looked out my window and saw a woman, Mrs. Henrickson from next door, being _eaten_ by her eight year old son. It was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. The boy I watched on countless occasions was eating his mother. She hit him multiple times, but he was unaffected by it.

Eventually Mr. Henrickson came out, but only to join his son in the feast. It was sickening, but for some reason I watched the entire event. Soon, her cries ended abruptly, and I knew she was gone, and that's when I snapped out of my trance.

That was the beginning of the apocalypse in Mesa, Arizona. And today is much, much different for the world. Today is today, and whenever that sun rises on a new day, a spark of hope ignites inside of me. A spark of hope that tends to die out quickly when one if the infected tries to make me its breakfast.

He was a nasty one, probably been turned since the start. His body was rotted; skin was peeling off his face in multiple places, his head and face had nail scratching marks, and the only hair left on his head was covered in blood and was falling out. I tried to imagine what event would have caused this guy to look so bad, but was snapped out of it when he reached out for my neck.

I quickly took a few steps back to make sure he couldn't get me before I took the pocket knife out of my sock. Being unaware of the threat, he kept coming at me, mouth already wide open, ready to bite. I took a step forward and slit the creature's throat, which only caused old, stagnant blood to ooze down his chin, but the attempt did nothing to harm his motives. I took another step back, and this time kicked his leg, breaking the knee.

He fell to the ground and kept moaning. He couldn't get back up, but just to be safe I kicked his other leg, causing it to twist at an unnatural angle. And with that, I walked away, cleaning the old blood from my knife.

I have never killed one of the infected, and I hope to never have to, because behind the diseased faces and the craving for flesh, these are human beings, with the natural instinct of survival. Sure, their instinct for survival is gorging themselves with human flesh, but it is still survival to them.

I put the knife back into my sock, and pulled my pant leg over to hide it. If I do find someone that has survived that's not insane, I want to make a good first impression. Although the odds of finding another human being by now, insane or not, are about zero of the entire population. It's been two years, and the infected haven't slowed since the start.

I'm glad I live in Mesa. It was one of the least dangerous zones in America to be in at the start of the plague. Sure, there aren't any basements to wait the bad part out in, or as many accessible weapons, but there also isn't a giant population in a confined area like New York. Less people, less infected, that's generally how it works.

I started searching cars for supplies to take back to where I had been staying. I did this every morning. Look for supplies; food, clothes, water, blankets, anything that could possibly help me. When I was done searching the car, I wrote "Jonah was here" on the windshield. I did this for two reasons; one, to know if I've searched the vehicle or not when I come back and two, so if anyone, anyone at all comes along, they might find me.

After I searched a few cars, I headed back to the R.V. I had been staying in. It wasn't much on the outside, or the inside for that matter, but it kept me surrounded, and safer than out in the open. Inside I had the necessities: food, water, soda, etc. I never kept anything that had to be cooked; the power in this thing had been dead since I arrived, and making a fire sounded like a great way to draw the infected right to me.

The R.V. hadn't been my "home" for long. Maybe three weeks at the most. I stopped keeping track of time a while ago. Before I arrived, someone must've been here. The windows were boarded up, and the door had so many locks there was no way anyone, or anything, could get in if they tried their best. Except for bombs, I don't think it had explosive protection.

I set the stuff I had gathered on the table. A bottle of water, jeans that should fit me, and a half empty box of granola bars. This was a good day's run, and I only encountered one of the infected. This was good. This was great.

The R.V. was on the 101 north. There were tons of cars that were abandoned here in the rush to get to safety when the outbreak became major. Most of the supplies, however, were taken. And in the rush those who took as much as they can were probably trampled and eventually were eaten by the infected.

When I got here, no one was left, and most of the infected had moved on down the freeway after learning there was nothing else left for them here. And it was nice to have a mostly quiet environment. I've never really been a fan of people in the first place, but if they don't have blood dripping down their faces or flesh in between their teeth, they aren't as bad, and I'm definitely not a fan of the infected.

So this was my life. Not much to it. Once I ran out of supplies from the neighboring cars, I'll move on from the R.V. and see what else is out in the world. There probably isn't much anymore.

I used to dream of travelling the world, publish a book or two, have my own private jet, to be in a new place every day. Of course if that were still an option, this world would be much different than it is now. Instead, I get to travel all of Arizona, visit the dead every now and then, and have my face trying to be ripped off constantly. So just as good as my dreams, right?

All those thought went through my head as I sat on the plush seat at the R.V. table. How could life go from good to horrible in the matter of hours? And then I heard a light banging come from the door to the vehicle. It was so faint I couldn't hear it at first, but it got louder and louder. Then came the groaning, the sound of one of the infected ready to kill.

I got up, walked over to the door and waited. Maybe this guy, or girl, would leave the vehicle if they thought nothing was there, but the banging continued, getting louder and louder. It must've seen me get into the R.V. and walked over. I reached down and grabbed my pocket knife, opening it as I came back to a standing position.

I took a deep breath and opened the door, kicking the first movement I saw. When I looked closer I saw it was one of the infected, which was a relief with my whole good first impression idea. It staggered back, but didn't fall. Her skin wasn't as bad as most of the others, which meant she couldn't have been infected for long.

She started walking back, reaching out with her blood-covered hands. I jumped down and slit her throat. It wouldn't kill her, but it would take her a moment to realize what happened. I took that moment and kicked out her leg like I did with the man earlier, but she grabbed my leg as she went down, causing me to fall on top of her.

She grabbed my head with both hands and opened her mouth wide. Her teeth were covered in blood, and flesh was in the corners. I looked into her eyes. They had that same distant look like all the rest. She wasn't in control of her body, the virus was. I rolled over causing her to be on top of me, and I got my knee under her, kicking her out.

I stood as quickly as I could, but she had my head again. I pushed her out but she had a good grip on my hair, causing pain to shoot across the top of my head. Not thinking, I hit my head on hers, causing her to let go for a moment, and an impossible screech escaped her mouth, loud enough for miles to heat, and it hurt my head even more. I kicked her in the stomach and she fell, and I broke her legs.

I walked back and leaned on the R.V. patting my hair. She didn't take anything out, which was good. I didn't need blood to enhance my smell for the rest of the infected. I turned and looked at the woman. She was trying to crawl towards me, but wasn't getting far. I laughed at the attempt, which seemed kind of harsh when I finished.

And that's when I heard the chorus of moaning and I looked behind her. There were at least twenty of the infected coming my way, and they were moving faster than ever. They all had their eyes locked on me, and that was the first time I regretted never picking up a gun on the multiple chances I had.

I quickly ran into the R.V., shut the door and locked it, then went to search the vehicle. There had to be something around; a knife, a long stick that I could tape a knife to, hopefully tape. But there was none of that. I was surrounded by the infected and nothing but an old pocket knife to fend them off.

Soon the infected surrounded the vehicle and were trying to get in. They weren't stupid at all; they began throwing rocks, and eventually one of the boards on the window broke loose, and I got an idea. I tore off the loose board and tossed it to the side, pocket knife still in my right hand.

On the other side of the window I had access to the creature's heads. But before I did anything, I realized that these were people still. Infected people, but they were still humans in the end. How could I kill them? What if there was a cure, what if they could be saved? Then reality hit me right in the face.

No one had found a cure yet, and if they had they hadn't released it. The government probably had a cure ready at the start of the outbreak, and didn't release it because they wanted money. And once they noticed the virus on a global scale, they were probably already dead. And besides, I had cut many of their throats to slow them down. If a cure was ever released and those people turned back, I had practically already killed them.

I took this moment to let everything I believed go, and I began killing off the infected through the window. Once I stabbed one, it fell, but was immediately replaced by another. I was sure there wasn't this many at the start. More must have joined in on the attack since I've been in here.

I kept going at it despite my certainty of death. I was going down with a fight if I were going down at all. Then, my arm was grabbed by one of the infected. It was the arm holding the knife. The weapon fell to the ground and I faced my loss. And in that moment I remembered my sister, Anna.

But that didn't last long. Once my arm was taken, I heard gunshots coming from outside. One by one the infected fell dead… again. Eventually all that was left was a body of corpses; the killer unknown.

I stayed quiet, slowly inhaling and exhaling as silently as I could. Whoever killed them could want to kill me as well, or worse: take all my stuff and leave me to die. After a minute of silence, a voice came from outside the vehicle.

"I know you're in there, so there's no use in trying to hide. Come out, show yourself." It was a man's voice. It was deep and scruffy, so he was probably in his late fifties or early sixties. I went over to the door, opened it, and slowly stepped out. He was on the other side, so I walked around. "Glad you could make it." He said sarcastically.

My guess was completely wrong. He looked like he was in his thirties. He had the scruff of a brown beard, so he must've shaven recently. His hair was a dark brown, his face looked clean, and he was pointing a gun right at me. "Name." He stated bluntly. There was no sympathy left in this man.

I was terrified of the gun, especially because I've tried so hard not to die the past two years, the fact that my fate was put into the hands of a man that could very well be insane put the fear of God into me, but I wasn't going to let him think that. I had to stick with my good first impression plan, even if he wanted me dead. "Who wants to know?" I asked putting all the confidence I could into the words.

The man smiled, which was strange at a time like this. He just killed twenty or thirty infected and was now thinking about killing me. He lowered his gun, which was just a normal Beretta M9; which made me wonder how he had killed thirty with one round. "Someone you don't want to get involved with, kid. I was just passing through, looking for supplies, and… possibly… other survivors."

I didn't know if this man was just playing some game or if he had a place- a community- where I could stay. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I would answer besides the fact that you still have the advantage here." He glanced at my hand obviously. That's when I noticed I was still holding my knife, and his pistol was out of sight. I closed the knife and put it in my sock. "You don't have a pocket?" The man asked.

"I do," I replied. "But in a tight spot, I might not have time to reach to the bottom of my pocket, take out the knife, open it, and then start stabbing. This way," I indicated my foot. "It's just slip, open, and stab."

The man nodded approvingly. "Good philosophy, but in a rush the knife might slip out and you'll lose you're only defense."

"How do you know that's my only defense?" I asked.

"Kid, in a situation like that," he pointed to the dead surrounding the R.V. "You go to your last defense." He took a step towards me, making me flinch back a little. "Relax, kid," he said, putting his hands in front of him. "I have no reason to hurt one of those few in this world that is still breathing." He took another step, and this time I held my ground, pushing all my fear to the back of my head.

He grabbed my arm and studied it. "No bites, you're safe. Luckily I came in and saved you, but no need for thanks." This man loved sarcasm.

"How do I know you aren't going to kill me once you take my stuff?" I asked defensively

The man let go of my arm and smiled again. "Who said I was here to take your stuff?" He countered. I stayed quiet. "Look, kid, if I were going to kill you I would have done it already. But that's not what I'm here for. I here for your supplies and-."

"I knew it." I mumbled, loud enough for him to hear.

He paused with a tight face, making me want to laugh. "And," he continued. "To take you with me.

I was about to defend myself when his words hit me. "Take me with you?" I asked. "Why would you take me with you?"

He pointed down the freeway where he must've come from. "Down that way I have a community. There are people there, lots of people. We have jobs, a currency, everything like before the virus ended the world. My job happens to be to go get supplies and bring back survivors if I find any that are willing to come."

All of this sounded too good to be true. For all I knew this could end up like _The Walking Dead_ and this so called 'community' could be a bunch of cannibals ready to eat me. "How do I know that you're telling the truth? I still don't even know your name." I said.

"And I don't know yours." He countered. "Look, kid, in this new world we have to give blind trust away sometimes in order to survive. You don't have to come with me. You don't even have to give me anything. It's just an offer."

His words didn't have much of an impact on me. I did want a community, a place to live without waking up each morning with the fear that I could be being eaten alive, friends, and work to pass the time, no days where I have to limit myself because of little supplies. All of it sounded great, but what if none of them trusted me? What if I couldn't trust them? The pros and cons raced through my head until they all suddenly stopped.

And a memory of my sister came to me. At the beginning of the outbreak, she was scared, in the corner of her room, and I sat down by her. "What's the matter?" I asked as bravely as I could for her.

There were tears in her eyes when she looked up at me. "I don't want to be alone." She said. "I don't want everything to end. I'm scared, Jonah."

I put my arm around her and she leaned her head on my shoulder. "It's okay, you're not alone. You've got me. I'll always be here for you."

"Jonah," she whimpered. "Can you promise me something?" She asked.

"Anything." I replied.

"If… I die." She began.

"Stop it, Anna. Don't do that to me." I demanded.

"Just listen to me." She said, sniffling. "If I die, you have to promise me you'll do what it takes to survive, even when you're not sure. Promise me."

I sighed. My little sister always looked out for me like I should have looked out for her. "I promise." I said quietly. Then I kissed her on the head. "But you're not going to die. I won't let that happen. I promise that as well."

The scene faded away as her little face looked up at me with a smile. "I'll go." I said, still hurting from the memory. "I have stuff in the R.V. we can take. Some water, food, clothes, blankets for winter. Everything I could offer. Let's go."

The man seemed stunned by the commitment, but after a few seconds he started gathering stuff out of the vehicle, and I helped. He put stuff into a backpack, and gave me one to store stuff in as well. Once everything was gathered, we walked off towards the community. Towards my promise to my little sister, the promise I had to keep already having failed the other.

For the most part of the trip we stayed quiet. Neither of us had much interest in talking, especially because we both knew the truth. You can't get too close to anyone now, because sooner or later one of you ends up dying in a horrible, nasty way. Getting to know someone would just make the inevitable even worse on you.

We walked for two or three miles when I began to get weary. I still didn't know if this man was taking me to a base or not. All of this could be a scam for my cooperation and when we get stuck in a tight spot, I'll be the one dying while he gets away. Or this was all in my head and he really was with a community a few more miles out. Who knew, besides the man?

What were the odds he found me? It must've been the horrible screech the infected woman let out earlier. He probably followed it to me, just in time for him to save my life. Maybe he was a good man trying to do a good deed, and I'm just too stubborn to see it.

I looked over at him. He looked distraught, and not from exhaustion. "What are you thinking about over there?" I asked.

He didn't speak for a moment, making me think he didn't hear me, until a soft reply came back. "Getting to the base." He coughed into his elbow, and then pulled up the long sleeves he was wearing. Why was he wearing long sleeves in this weather?

I decided not to bother him with such a stupid question. "Do you have a family waiting?" I asked him.

He looked down at his feet and spoke. "No," he said.

I recognized that he really didn't want to talk about it, so I shut up. We walked for another mile and turned right when a tall, wooden wall came into view. Standing on the wall, there were guards with guns, and right in the middle was a cut out door with a metal slab covering it.

We reached the door and one of the guards called out something unintelligible. Soon, the metal slab rose up, allowing us to get in. The man led me through when an arm reached out and stopped me.

"Who's this?" A woman asked. She wore the same thing the man who led me here was wearing, which made me wonder if these people were crazy. Pants and long sleeves, it's at least a hundred degrees out.

"A survivor, no bites from what I can tell, ma'am." The man said, putting lots of respect into the statement.

The woman studied me, and I felt uncomfortable. "Well, we'll still have to take him to decontamination, but he looks good to me." She stated. Then she addressed me. "How old are you, son?"

"Sixteen," I replied.

She looked at the clipboard she held, and then spoke to the man. "Take him to decontamination, and then get him some new clothes. Take him to the info center. A job will have to be assigned to him there. And you look like you could get cleaned up yourself." And without another word she walked away.

"All right, kid." The man said. "Follow me, again." He started heading deeper into the community's walls, and I knew at that moment that I was now a part of that community- and there was no turning back.

We walked through the streets and passed a lot of houses, which probably meant that this was a neighborhood before it was turned into a haven to protect us from the infected. As we passed, people would look at us, specifically me, but as soon as I looked at them they would quickly go back to whatever they were doing.

I had never been that odd newcomer before. I stayed at the same school, never really went anywhere besides the library, stores, and movie theatres. At those places everyone knew me, and they all died when the outbreak started. Here, I was new, and that meant I was a different species for now.

After about half a mile we arrived at a slightly taller building that looked well kept, but empty. "Welcome to containment." The man said. "The worst place on earth." He walked into the building and I followed.

The inside was just as empty as the outside. There was a water machine, some plants here and there, and a wooden desk off to the side. It reminded me of my old apartment complex's main building. The floor was completely carpeted, and you could see the dirt build up. The electricity must've gone out months ago.

The man walked over to the desk where a young woman, maybe in her late teens, greeted us. "Hi," she said. "How may I help you?" The question sounded formal, but she made it sarcastic. She set down the book she was reading- it was a romance novel, which was just sad. Who reads romance novels? It would have to be the last thing on earth before he read it.

"Hi, Julie," the man said. She wasn't wearing a nametag, so he must've known her somehow. "We need a decontamination treatment for this boy." He patted me on the back. "And a change of clothes, along with a job, some currency, and a place to live, all of the usual things he would need to start a life. You think you could do that for us?" He asked.

"Well," Julie said standing up. "That would be my job." She looked at me, but addressed the man. "Well, you know the paperwork that has to be done. Fill out your portion and he'll fill out his when he's ready. Follow me, newbie." She began to walk to a door, and I followed.

We went into a room with tubs and buckets of water next to them. There were washcloths hanging on the side of the tubs. "Okay, get yourself cleaned up and then get yourself dressed. There are clothes your size sitting over there." She pointed to a row of benches where a pile of clothes sat. "Once you are dressed our medical team will examine you for injuries, specifically bites. The towels are over there when you're done." She pointed to the opposite wall of the benches. "You got that?"

"It seems simple enough for me." I said, trying a smile. I had to admit, it would be nice to get cleaned after living the past few weeks in my own filth, but I was still a little shaky after my arm almost got eaten off. I attempted conversation. "That was a quick response, getting new clothes my size here."

She looked at me like it was the stupidest comment she's heard all day, and it probably was. I didn't know the system here. "Just get clean. You look horrible." She said. Then she walked out, closing the door behind her.

I did as I was told. I got myself cleaned up, and was surprised to feel that the water was warm. I haven't felt warm water flow across my skin since just after the outbreak began two years ago. I got dressed in the new clothes. They fit surprisingly well, and they felt clean, which was great. I walked over to the mirrors they had by the door.

They had given me blue jeans, which I found kind of stupid. It was the middle of summer, I didn't need jeans. They also had given me a white T-shirt that looked as if it had just been ironed. Not to brag, but it looked well on me. I liked the style they were going for here. I noticed there was a counter by the mirror, and on it there was a comb, so I brushed my hair off to the side, the way I had worn it when I went to school.

I set the comb down and opened the door, where I was greeted by Julie, who looked very impatient. "I was wondering if you had died in there." She said. "What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry," I said sarcastically. "Unlike living luxurious like you do, I've been living on the run the past two years, so I took my time to enjoy getting clean."

"Well, you only get to once a week, so I hope you did enjoy it." Her tone was mixed with sarcasm and hatred, which made me wonder if I'd said something wrong. "Now follow me so you can get an examining and get a job. You start today." She began walking the opposite direction in which we came.

I followed her down a bunch of halls, down some stairs, then up some stairs. I was beginning to wonder if this went of forever when we reached an end to all of it. At this end there was a wooden door. Julie opened it, let me in, and then closed it behind me.

The room looked like a regular doctor's office, which reminded me of how normal things were before the outbreak. It had a long chair-type bed with paper covering it, a small desk with medical supplies resting on it, a swiveling chair, and a waste bin in the corner that read 'Biohazard.' It all looked too real, too normal to be true.

I was lost in thought when the door opened again, and a man wearing a white doctor's suit came in holding a clipboard like a professional. "Hello," he said while closing the door. "My name is Eric, and I'll be the one taking care of you today. And to whom do I owe this pleasure to?" He asked while holding out a hand.

I was stunned and confused. This guy comes in and one of the first words that come out of his mouth is his name, or at least the name he goes by. This may just be the only respectful person around here. "Um… Jonah," I said, shaking the man's hand.

"Jonah," he repeated. "I like that name. It's nice to meet you, Jonah." He let go of my hand and sat down in the chair. "Have a seat, please." He said indicating the bed. He looked at his clipboard. "So, you're sixteen, huh?" It sounded more like a statement.

"Yeah," I answered. This was weird. I haven't had a conversation like this for months.

"Not talkative, are we?" He asked me.

I hesitated. "No, it's just, you seem much…" I was trying to find the right word for it.

"Nicer?" He tried. I didn't respond. "Yeah, I get that from just about every newbie. I take it you've met Julie?" He asked, finally looking up from the clipboard.

"Oh, yes," I said with a fake smile. "I've met her."

Eric smiled. It was a true, genuine smile. "Yeah, you have the same annoyed look as everyone has after talking to her. Don't worry; she'll grow on you eventually. It may in a million years or so, but she'll grow on you."

I laughed, and then quickly covered my mouth. Did I just laugh at a comment? For the first time in months I laughed at a comment. Eric smiled again. "You've been out in the world for a while, haven't you?" He asked. I just nodded, slowly lowering my hand from my mouth. He set down the clipboard. "I understand. I was out there for a year and a half until I was taken in by the community here. Don't worry; there are good people around here. You're safe now."

The words sounded so true coming out of him, and I wanted to believe him. I wanted to feel safe, but I've been out there too long. It was hard. I tried to change the subject before I broke down. "So, what are we supposed to do exactly?" I asked.

Eric patted my leg. "Nothing," he said. "I just needed to talk to you. Trust me by now you would've told me whether you had a bite or not yet. Everyone gives in eventually. So now we just talk. I like to talk. Ask me anything you want to know." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

I had so many questions, but most of them sounded stupid in my head, which meant they would probably sound worse coming out. After a minute of silence, I just shot randomly. "So what's up with Julie?" I asked.

Eric sighed. "Julie is my daughter. She and I arrived here and were taken in graciously. I eventually just gave in. Everyone here wanted to help us, and I saw it. But Julie didn't. She's still very young, and out there, in the real world, she suffered some big losses. As did I. We had both been through a lot, and Julie still hasn't let go."

"How old is she?" I asked. "She looked like she's eighteen, maybe even nineteen."

Eric laughed. "Gosh, stress does horrible things to someone's features. She's fifteen."

I was stunned. That meant she was younger than me. "Wait, how old do I look?" I asked.

Eric studied my face, and I began feeling a bit uncomfortable. Finally, he spoke. "If I didn't know you were sixteen, I would guess late teens, at most twenty, and that's pushing it. How long have you been out there on your own?" He asked, somewhat sympathetically.

"A few months," I replied. "Before that I…" I paused there. I wanted to answer him. I wanted to tell him everything, but I wasn't ready.

He seemed to read my thoughts. "It's okay." He said. "I won't pester you about it. We all had to face the real world at least once since the beginning of it all, and some of us suffered hardships and loss when we did."

I looked at Eric and felt tears form behind my eyes, but I didn't let them out. For some reason this man cared about what I felt, somehow knew how I felt. On some note it was weird, but comforting. I felt as though he actually cared. I didn't know what to say, so I just lowered my head.

After a few minutes of silence, Eric spoke again. "Well, it seems our time here is up." He stood up from his chair, and I stood from the bed. He held out his hand again, and I took it with a steady grip. "It was nice meeting you, Jonah. I hope I see you around." He patted my back and put his hand on the door handle. "Oh, and please don't let Julie get to you. She's a great person if you get to know her." And with that he opened the door and walked me to the main part of the building where Julie was reading her book again.

She looked up and rolled her eyes. "It took you two long enough." She said setting her book down. She got up and hugged her dad. "I'll see you later. I love you."

Her dad hugged her back tightly. "I love you too, sweetie." He broke the embrace. "Well, he's all yours." He said smiling, and with that he walked out front door.

Julie looked at me with disgust. "Did he give you one of those 'all will be okay' speeches?" She asked.

I smiled a bit at the comment, even though it was sarcastic. "Yeah, he did." I said. "So, what's on the agenda?" I asked, clapping my hands together.

"Huh, down to business, are we? That's good with me. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can lock up and go home." She walked back to her desk and I followed. She picked up a clipboard and studied it, then set it down. "If you would follow me, I'll show you to your new home." And with that she walked out the door.

I followed her and we walked down a few blocks, made a right turn and walked a bit more, then stopped at an apartment building. She walked up to the third floor and opened the door, letting me in first, and she followed, closing the door behind her.

The first room here was all set up; there was a couch, and across from the couch a bookshelf filled with thick books. "This," Julie said, presenting the room. "Is where you'll be staying." She put her arms down. "There is a bedroom over there," she pointed to the door on the right. "And right through here is the kitchen." She walked through the other door.

It had a sink, a nice marble-top counter, an oven, cooking supplies. "The oven has been turned into a semi-workable cooktop." She said. "Inside there are coals that you can light, heating the surface so you can cook. The sink doesn't work, but you'll find that underneath there is clean water and soap you can use. The cabinets are filled with cooking supplies, and if you want fruits or vegetables or meats, you'll have to go down to the shop where they are kept cool to get them. If you want the best meat, I suggest waiting until winter when it is colder therefore kept fresher, but the butcher works year-round. Do you have any questions on that?" She asked.

I turned my head to look at her. She looked tired, and sounded as if she just really wanted to get this over with. "Nope," I said, turning my head back.

"Okay then," she said. "Well, follow me again." She walked back through the main room and back outside where she stopped and reached into her pocket and pulled out a bunch of coins. "This is our currency." She said handing them to me. "Yes, they are the regular coins you used before the outbreak, but here they have different worth. A penny is similar to a dollar, a nickel to five dollars, and so on. Does that make sense?" She asked.

"Yep," I said, putting the coins in my pocket. She had given me three pennies, two nickels, and a quarter. "Why thirty-three though?" I asked.

"Because I like threes as much as crazy old Dopkins down the street likes sevens." Julie replied bluntly pointing over her shoulder at another building. Then she turned around and began walking down the stairs. "Now, you're going to be with the cleaning crew." She pulled papers out of her pocket and handed them to me. "Your hours are on there, so adjust your sleep accordingly. It pays about a nickel a day, but you don't get payed until the end of the week. Everyone gets Saturdays and Sundays off, so buy the supplies you need beforehand." She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Do you have any questions whatsoever?" She asked with and obvious forced smile.

I matched her smile. "None at all, thank you for the tour."

Julie rolled her eyes and walked back the way we came. She was annoying, and it seemed she wanted to keep it that way. I definitely wasn't going to annoy her even more though. She might just kill me if I did, and so would the entire community.

I walked back up to my little apartment, went in, and sat on the couch. I noticed that there was a working clock hanging above the bookshelf. It must've run on batteries. At least I could keep track of time. Speaking of time- it was six p.m. And that's when I noticed I needed food badly.

I left the apartment again and began walking down the street from where I came from. I remembered the apartment number so I could find it later. As I walked no one payed me much mind. It seemed as though no one cared about the new person and everyone just had too much work to do.

Eventually I came along a building where the smell of cooked, seasoned meat wafted out of. It wasn't an apartment building or a home, and people went in and out, some alone, some with friends. It must've been a restaurant of some sort. This was perfect timing.

I walked in and looked around. Yep, this was a restaurant. People sat at tables eating and talking, chefs yelled from the kitchen, waiters bustled about carrying empty trays, food, drinks, all while avoiding people and tables with amazing reflexes. I haven't seen a restaurant this busy since before the end of the world, and if there were this many people in here, how many could live in the community itself?

After looking around for a minute I saw a person I recognized. It was the man who had saved my life earlier, sitting at the bar. I walked over, avoiding those leaning back in their seats and sat next to the man.

The bartender, a gruff looking older man looked over at me, and at first I thought he was going to tell me to get myself a table, but the old guy just walked up to me, expression unreadable. "You look famished, kid." He said. "Can I get you something?" He asked with a slight tone of calmness despite his looks. I guess everyone looks a bit older with the stress of this new life.

"Well," I said, taking a deep breath. "What do you have?" I asked folding my hands atop the bar counter. "I'll take anything that's filling."

Then the man sitting next to me looked over. I locked eyes with him, and he seemed a little mad. I didn't know what for though. Then he smiled and started laughing. He slammed a hand against my back. "So, you survived your first few hours!" He sounded sarcastically surprised. "Phil," he addressed the bartender. "Give him something big, he's been outside the walls for months."

"Can do," the bartender said walking away. He yelled at some people in the kitchen something unintelligible and then went back to bartending.

"So," the man said. He was still looking at me. "How's your stay so far? Did you like Julie?" He asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah," I said smiling. "She was great."

He laughed and set down his empty glass. "Phil!" He shouted at the bartender. "Give me two more drinks!" He turned to face me again. "You want a drink, kid? I'll pay. Heck, you just had to put up with Julie, I'll buy you two." He didn't seem to be kidding this time.

"I'll pass." I said.

He patted me on the back, this time gently. "You sure, kid? You look like you could use a few." He said.

"I'll be okay." I replied. I rubbed my temples as a headache planted itself deep in my brain. "I just had a long day, that's all."

The man held out a hand. "I'm Andrew, by the way."

So I finally had a name. I was stunned. We walked for hours and he would barely speak a word, and now he was giving me a name. How much had he had to drink? I shook his hand. "You know my name already." I said.

Phil came over and handed him the two more drinks. He took one and drank the entire thing in one shot, then took a long exhale. "Don't worry kid, today was the worst of it all." And with that he drank the other and laughed.

So I had a community to live in. It wasn't home, but it was safe, and if it's safe I'll take it. After what I had been through I wanted nothing more than a break, and now that I had one it was nice. I felt like I belonged somewhere for the first time in months, and it felt odd, but good at the same time. Who knew, this could be where I spend the rest of my days, living happily and talking to Andrew, who seemed pretty nice now that he's talking.

"Andrew," I said, still waiting for my food. "How did you end up here? Well, here at the community, I mean." I asked, turning to face the man.

His expression turned grave and he looked down at his empty glass. "Same as you, I was brought here by someone out looking and I followed when they said there was a safe place to live."

I thought for a moment. He didn't seem happy talking about it, but he didn't seem mad either, just depressed. I wanted more information, but he didn't push me so I wouldn't push him. I was at a loss for words when finally my food arrived, and it looked amazing.

There was a hamburger with bacon and cheese on top of it, curly French fries, wings with a ranch dip. It was an actual meal, the first actual meal I had seen in forever. Was this even possible? It seemed too good to be true, but I didn't ask any questions. I took the hamburger in my hands and took a bite. It was amazing.

The noise ended up just getting louder and louder, making my headache worse, and once I finished my food I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head the headache was so bad. I ended up taking that drink offer from Andrew, who graciously bought me two of whatever he had.

It was sweet, and had a hint of cherry flavor to it. The headache lessened as I drank the entire glass in one go. Andrew laughed at how fast I took it down as I started the second. He bought me a third and I drank that, and after my headache was completely gone. I found myself laughing at it all too, and all my worries were pushed to the back of my mind for the time being.

I was starting to like it here.


End file.
